


Look After Each Other

by bookwormfaith



Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, I love them all despite that this is terribly unlikely, look I can't help it, messed up family feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-29
Updated: 2016-05-29
Packaged: 2018-07-10 22:55:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7011604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookwormfaith/pseuds/bookwormfaith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Promise me, you will look after my brother. And look after yourself, too."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Don't forget to visit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bgoldfish](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bgoldfish/gifts).



They say of Maglor that he came never back amongst his people, and wandered out of memory. This is... not entirely accurate.

He never came back to Valinor, this is true, and no ship there is to bear him thence. But not all ships sail to Valinor, after all - and Men are not the Eldar.

The guards do not see him to stop him, and he does not interrupt the family as they say goodbye to king and father and grandfather. Elros has lived a long life, and there are many who wish to say good bye before he goes. Eventually, Elros laughingly shoos them out, reminding them that he is old, and needs his rest.

"You bastard, you actually finally showed up." He manages when the room is empty, and a shadow steps forward to come and kneel beside him.

"I did. I watched, but you did not need me there to distract you." Maglor reaches for the hand that he remembers once reaching for his, young and strong, now old and withered, and his eyes are bright with tears. "But I wanted to say good bye."

Elros' grip is still strong and his eyes are still keen, and he smiles for the one he still thinks of as his foster father.

"You could have come sooner." He accuses. "I wanted you to meet my family, but every time I heard you, you'd already left by the time I came looking."

"I am only a relic of the past, Elros. I had no part in your new life. But thank you for the food and clothes - they were always welcome."

"Hah! Who else would take care of you?"

"Brat." Maglor says fondly and his other hand brushes gently through hair once as dark as his own, now snow white. "I am sane enough now to care for myself - you need not worry."

"And I am sane enough to be making this choice without regret." Elros sniffs at him and tugs demandingly until Maglor sits next to him and he can lay his head in his lap. "The only thing... the only thing I regret is leaving Elrond behind."

"Mm." Maglor nods, gently running scarred hands through his hair. "I wish you had stayed with him, my bright, bold warrior. But all I ever wanted for you both was that you were happy. Were you?"

"I am." Elros smiles up at him, and catches his hand in his own. "Especially since you actually came. Elrond won't get here in time, you know."

"So soon?" Maglor's breath catches.

"I am old, _adar_ \- this body begins to fail. And I am lonely, without my lovely wife. And... I am excited, too. I want to know what lies beyond the curtain. I could delay, until Elrond comes. But... "

Maglor nods, understanding, and his voice stays level despite the tears. "But you do not want him to see."

"No. If I delay, I will not be able to choose - and I do not want that for my brother, to see me struggle and fail at the last. Besides, I might loose my nerve."

"Not you." Maglor laughs brokenly through his tears. "You were always so brave."

"Hah. You were the one who taught me that bravery only means you have confronted your fear and pushed through it. I am afraid - but this close... I am hopeful, also."

"You learnt your lessons well, _yonya_." There is the slightest tremor in Maglor's hand, the only evidence of his distress.

"I did. You will have to look after my brother, Maglor. Promise me that. You know how he gets."

Maglor nods, bowing to press a kiss to the wrinkled brow.

"I promise."

"Good." Elros smiles up at him, the look still boyish, despite the years. "Sing me to sleep, and then go - I do not want you to watch, either - you have said good bye enough times already, at least this time you will know I go in peace and anticipation, and no pain."

"Elros ... I...."

"I mean it. If you stay I swear I will come back and haunt you. You've come - that's all I wanted. To say good bye. Remember to look after yourself, or you will not be able to look after Elrond."

Maglor shakes his head, and then nods. "As the king commands." He whispers softly, brokenly, and then gathers his composure. "What would you hear, _yonya_."

"Sing me our lullaby?"

On the night before Tar Minyatur died, legend tells of a voice like the ocean, singing a lullaby that encompassed the whole of his castle, like the rocking arms of a father or the rolling of the waves. When the song ended, the King summoned his family to his bedside and surrendered his scepter to his son before breathing his last.

They never found the singer. But the ocean near the castle still sings a lament for the king, and will do so, legend says, until Numenor falls.


	2. Hold me when I cry

Elros asked him to take care of his brother, and despite the dangers of staying in contact, Maglor has tried to do exactly that. 

Whenever he rides to War, Elrond had a silent shadow, but after he vanishes into the wilderness again. He appears seldom in Rivendell, always under the cover of night, and he never stays long. Elrond sometimes spots him in the Wild, and knows that when his sons go out to hunt, more than Glorfindel's eyes watch over his boys. 

When Celebrian is taken....

He does not know how Maglor learns - but then, he's never worked out where Maglor gets his information either, although he has his suspicions. His sons bring her home, and Elrond does not have time to ask how they eventually found her, but if he had time and energy, he might suspect. He fights and fights and fights, but he has to realise sooner or later... he cannot win. The family ride to the harbor with her, a last goodbye, and as he stares after the ship that carries his heart away, he hears his daughter weep in her grandparents arms, and his sons turn away and ride away into the night, and cannot feel anything at all. It has been a long time since he has felt this young and hopeless. He does not know how long he stays there standing, but eventually he becomes aware of the fact that there is a sound he has been hearing for a while that is not the hush of the waves. Lifting his head (he was crying? He had not even noticed...) he realises that night is fallen and he is alone on the docks, apart from the sound of the waves... and the harp. 

He turns and follows it, drawn down to the sands near the docks, and there he finds what he knew he would. 

Maglor lifts his head as he approaches, eyes gentle and understanding, lifting hands from his harp to open arms to Elrond.


End file.
